Axle-to-Axle Length Explained: How to Pick the Right ATA

Thanks for joining me guys.

So.

We're in the heat of, or the probably getting close to the peak of bow buying season right now.

And like I said, there's just a lot of questions and there's some confusion.

And I think one of the big considerations when we talk about buying a new bow is axle to axle length, right? And why is that important? There's a couple reasons, but we need to define it first, right? Because there is some confusing on what axle to axle length actually is.

And it's the measurement from the top, the center of the top axle to the center of the bottom axle.

That is our axle to axle length of a bow.

It is not the overall length of the bow, right? Because when we factor in overall length of the bow, we've got to take into consideration the cams.

So if you have, for example, call it a 33 inch axle to axle or ATA bow, it's 33 inches from the axle to the axle, but you've got additional length.

length on that bow from the cam system.

So it can be two, three, four inches depending on the side of the cams.

So true overall length of the bow is typically greater than axle to axle.

So just to clear that up.

And the other thing I saw going through some of these social media posts and questions that we see in our, um, comment sections or even on some of these forms is there was, uh, some cute confusion or mix up between ATA and brace height.

And those are two completely different things.

Like I said, axle to axle, the axle to axle length brace height is the measurement from the throat of the grip to the string.

Um, And there was some confusion there.

So I just want to go through, I got some questions I'm going to answer on this as well.

We're going to go through some different scenarios and we're just going to kind of help you guys make a more informed decision on what you should consider when buying a bow, right? Because it is a big decision.

It's a big investment.

It's costly.

And if you end up going with the wrong bow, in particular, the wrong axle to axle length, it's It can really take away from the enjoyment of the sport from you, the potential you have to really shoot accurately at distance, or it just might not be the right fit based off the type of hunting you're doing, if that's your primary focus.

So a lot of things to consider when going into buying a bow, right? And you can kind of compare the axle to axle length.

It's kind of relatable to like, if we look at the wheelbase of a vehicle, right? For example, a longer wheelbase, typically the ride's a little bit smoother, the vehicle's a little less nimble, but when you shorten that wheelbase, you typically have better maneuverability, tighter turns, but you sacrifice that smoothness and it's a little bit bumpier of a ride.

It's the same trade-off logic that applies here.